Cards hope to right ship in Steel City

Baseball Betting Lines

08/23/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals have fallen out of first place in the National League's Central Division due to their inconsistent play as of late. A few games against the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates may help get them back in a groove.

St. Louis will attempt to maintain its recent mastery of the Pirates, owners of the worst record in baseball, when the two divisional foes start up a three-game series tonight at PNC Park.

The Cardinals had held a one-game edge on Cincinnati for the top spot in the NL Central before losing a season-worst five straight contests from August 14-20. That slide put the defending division champions 4 1/2 games behind the Reds in the standings, but they've since been able to gain a game back after posting back-to-back wins over San Francisco over the weekend.

St. Louis received excellent starting pitching in both of those victories. All-Star Chris Carpenter tossed 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball in a 5-1 triumph over the Giants on Saturday, while Jaime Garcia followed up with the first shutout of his career to lead the Cards to a 9-0 win yesterday afternoon.

Garcia (11-6) yielded just three hits and walked none while facing just one batter over the minimum in a masterful performance. The rookie, who struck out six and threw only 89 pitches, had set down 13 straight batters before giving up a two-out single to Nate Schierholtz in the ninth.

"I was just trying to go one pitch at a time and not worry about anything else but that," said Garcia afterward.

St. Louis also supplied plenty of offense in the rout. Allen Craig socked a two-run homer and finished with two hits and three RBI, while Jon Jay went 3- for-4 with a run-scoring single to pace the Cardinals' 15-hit attack.

The Cardinals hope to carry the momentum from this weekend's outcome into a 10-game road trip that also includes stops in Washington and Houston. The team is just 26-31 as the visitor this season, but has won three straight and four of its last five away from home.

St. Louis has had its share of success in the Steel City over the past few years. Tony La Russa's squad has gone 8-4 at PNC Park since the start of the 2009 campaign and took two of three from the Pirates in Pittsburgh back in May. They've also prevailed in 11 of the last 13 overall meetings between the clubs, including five of six bouts so far this year.

And to say the Pirates have been struggling lately is an understatement. Pittsburgh scored less than three runs for the 10th time in its last 11 outings in Sunday's matchup with the New York Mets, although the NL Central basement-dwellers were able to stop a five-game slide by coming through with a 2-1 win.

Bucs starter Zach Duke (6-12) held New York to one run on five hits over the first seven innings, with relievers Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan protecting the one-run advantage over the final two frames. The Pirates mustered only four hits on the day, but two of them were solo homers by Lastings Milledge and Jose Tabata off Mets ace Johan Santana.

"I'm proud of the way we battled to beat one of the best pitchers in the game," said Pittsburgh manager John Russell.

Pittsburgh was able to give Duke just enough support on Sunday, something it's had a lot trouble providing Ross Ohlendorf all throughout this season. The right-hander enters tonight's assignment with a brutal 1-10 record despite a respectable 3.90 earned run average, and he's turned in three straight quality starts with nothing but frustration to show for those efforts.

Ohlendorf worked a season-high eight innings and allowed just four hits against Florida this past Wednesday, but came out on the wrong end of a 3-2 decision. He fired 6 2/3 shutout frames in his previous start, an August 13 clash at Houston, but wound up with a no-decision after the Pittsburgh bullpen blew a late lead. That scenario also took place in an August 7 tilt against Colorado in which Ohlendorf permitted two runs -- one earned -- and four hits through six innings.

The Princeton product, who has posted a 2.35 ERA since June 27, has yet to face the Cardinals this season and is 1-2 with a 2.77 ERA in four lifetime starts against St. Louis.

Pittsburgh will try to get its slumping offense untracked in a matchup with Cards hurler Kyle Lohse. The right-hander was hammered in his first start back from a near three-month stay on the disabled list in an August 15 game against Chicago, with the Cubs pounding him for seven runs and six hits -- including two homers -- in just three innings of work.

Lohse, who had been sidelined since May 22 with a forearm problem which required surgery, is just 1-5 with a bloated 6.79 ERA in 10 starts this season and has surrendered five or more runs in four of his last five trips to the mound.

On the flip side, the 31-year-old sports a 4-0 record and an excellent 2.14 ERA in seven career appearances (six starts) against Pittsburgh and won his only encounter with the Bucs last season, permitting three runs (two earned) over seven effective innings in his 2009 debut.

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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

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MySportsbook.com refunds all bets on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay from NFL week one.

(September 14) – Week one of NFL action saw three teams go scoreless for the first time since 1977.  Another four were unable to get a touchdown and almost half of the underdogs covered the spread. Those three teams saved bettors at MySportsbook.com from losing out completely, thanks to the company’s unique NFL Shutout Rule -- which ensures that if the team you backed goes scoreless, your wager is refunded.

Sportsbook refunded tens of thousands of dollars to customers who bet on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay, the three teams that stunk up the field so badly that their fans and backers never had a chance to get up from their couches and cheer.  In the spirit of the low scoring start to the season, odds makers at the world’s largest online sportsbook and casino have set odds on how many total shutouts there will be this season. 

MySportsbook.com has posted updated sports betting lines for week two of the season.  Ben Roethlisberger’s health status is still questionable, so Willie Parker will try to lead Pittsburgh again as they travel to Jacksonville as a one point favorite.  After beating up on his little brother last week, Peyton Manning will look to lead the Colts to victory against Houston. Indianapolis is a whopping 13.5 favorite in the match-up.

Seattle, last year’s highest scoring team, showed the power of their defense with their gritty 9-6 win in Motown over the ravenous Lions.  They take their act back home to the comforts of Qwest Field where they will face the resurgent Arizona Cardinals.  The Seahawks are favored by a touchdown. 

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